Latest news with #HiroshiOgushi
3 days ago
- Politics
CDP, Nippon Ishin to Unify Candidates in Gifu, Wakayama
News from Japan Politics Jun 6, 2025 22:39 (JST) Tokyo, June 6 (Jiji Press)--The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) agreed to unify candidates in the Gifu and Wakayama prefectural constituencies for this summer's election for the House of Councillors. Nippon Ishin will withdraw its candidate in Gifu, and the CDP in Wakayama. The two constituencies are among those where one seat will be contested in the election for the upper chamber of the Diet. The opposition parties also agreed that the party that withdraws its candidate in a district will not officially back the candidate supported by the other party in the district. "We've made the decision by comprehensively considering how the opposition camp can achieve the best results in single-seat constituencies," Hiroshi Ogushi, executive deputy president of the CDP, told reporters. Ryohei Iwatani, secretary-general of Nippon Ishin, told a press conference that the judgment was based on the results of a public opinion poll, which the party views as a "preliminary" to select Upper House candidates. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Japan Times
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Parties remain apart on social media rules for elections
During a television debate Saturday, senior officials of ruling and opposition parties broadly agreed on the need to regulate election misinformation on social media, but were far apart over specific measures. "We first need to use existing laws and regulations, such as the public offices election law and the Penal Code," Ichiro Aisawa, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on the Election System, said. "It is very important to clarify the responsibilities of social media service providers." Noting that people may vote based on what they read on social media, even when accuracy is unknown, Hiroshi Ogushi, executive deputy president of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said that "it is necessary to introduce regulations in light of the links between social media and elections." Hitoshi Aoyagi, policy chief of opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai, agreed, saying, "Freedom of expression does not mean that anything is allowed." Hirotaka Ishikawa, secretary-general of Komeito in the House of Councillors, said, "It is very important to strike a balance between the enhancement of regulations and freedom of expression." Meanwhile, Motohisa Furukawa, acting leader of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, said, "We should be cautious about (social media) regulations at this point." "Social media has the advantage of reducing the distance between politics and voters," he said, suggesting that the government should first ask related businesses to take countermeasures. Satoshi Inoue, the Japanese Communist Party's secretary-general in the Upper House, said, "We should put efforts into ensuring that people's voices are accurately reflected in politics by guaranteeing suffrage and freedom of expression." Akiko Oishi, co-leader of Reiwa Shinsengumi, an opposition party, said there have been cases in which derogatory information was spread by those with abundant financial resources. "We should establish an appropriate legal framework," she added. The TV debate took place as the country marked Constitution Day on Saturday.
03-05-2025
- Politics
Japan Parties Apart on Social Media Regulations over Elections
News from Japan Politics May 3, 2025 18:44 (JST) Tokyo, May 3 (Jiji Press)--Senior officials of Japan's ruling and opposition parties in a television debate Saturday broadly agreed on the need to regulate false social media information regarding elections but were apart over specific measures. Ichiro Aisawa, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on the Election System, said, "We first need to use existing laws and regulations, such as the public offices election law and the Penal Code." "It is very important to clarify the responsibilities of social media service providers," he said. Noting that people may vote based on social media information whose authenticity is unknown, Hiroshi Ogushi, executive deputy president of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said that "it is necessary to introduce regulations in light of relations between social media and elections." Hitoshi Aoyagi, policy chief of opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), agreed, saying, "Freedom of expression does not mean that anything is allowed." [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
